Machine for stripping jute and other fibrous plants



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' W. MENZIES. MACHINE FOR SIRIPPING JUTE OR OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS. No. 394,284. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

WITNE ES:

- I BY .jau/r w ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.) '5 SheetsSheet 2:. W. MENZIES. MACHINE FOR STRIPPING JUTE OR OTHER PIBROUS PLANTS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES (N' ModeL) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. MENZIES. MACHINE FOR STRIPPING JUTE OR OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

INVBNTOR BY v WITN 6?, 6/

ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.)

v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. W. MENZIES.

MACHINE FOR STRIPPING JUTE OR OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

vz/ I N M# JH\\ I l MM r H w- W m M 1 N UW w Y R y m w\ u\ a NB M v M ATTORNEYS. x

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM MENZIES, OF PATERSON, NElV JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR STRIPPING JUTE AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,284, dated December 11, 1888.

Application filed April 22, 1887, Serial No. 235,780- (No model.)

The fiber of the jute-plant as now marketed comprises di llerent grades, the lowest of which 1s known as butts, which grows near the I grouiul. In obtaining the fiber the plant is first retted, and after this the butts of the stalks are cut off up to the first-grade fiber.

The fiber is then ordinarily removed by hand 3 from the two parts of the stalks and the best grades washed.

The fiber from the butts, if 3 not thrown away as waste, is usually baled without washing, it being now considered of too little value to pay for the labor. \Vhile the butt fiber is naturally of comparatively coarse texture and difficult to handle for any important purposes, yet it' properly treated it it adapted for many uses where the better grades of fiber are now used and the object of my invention is to strip jute cheaply by machinery, and in such a manner as to raise the quality of the butt fiber and make it of comparativelyhigh con'nnercial value. \Vith my invention I do not lnitt the stalks, as it is termed, but pass them full length through the machine, so that the whole of the fiber is taken off at one and the same operation.

The machine comprises, essentially, a set of crushing-rollers for breaking the but-ts of the stalks, a revolving drum, and adraw-frame 'Olk'll'lg in an opening in the drum for drawing the crushed butts and the butt fibers down into the inside of the drum, the principal part of the fiber being stripped by the revolution of the drum and wrapped around its outer surface. ()ne of the crushing-rollers is adapted to be shifted from a position above to a position on a level with the feeding-table, and into a horizontal plane with the stationary crushing-roller, so that after the butts have passed between the rollers the movable roller may be thrown down and the principal parts of the stalks thus caused to pass on over and not between the crushing-rollers. The movement of the movable crushing-roller opcrates by suitable connecting mechanism the draw-frame for drawing the crushed butts and their fibers down into the opening in the drum, where the fibers are grasped by a sliding plate, so that the revolution of the drum will draw the fibers off from the uncrushed parts of the stalks. The lower part of the drum is, by preference, submerged in water for washing the fiber, and I employ two combs, one upon the inside and one upon the outside of the drum, for combing out the fiber and relieving it of any attached pieces of bark; and I also employ rubber rollers in the watertank to run against the drum for squeezing the fiber in the water to more eifectually wash the same.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a broken plan view of the machine, showing the movable crushing-roller tipped down to one side of the stationary roller and the clutch on the main shaftin gear for revolving the drum. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation taken on the line .1 .r of 1, showing the movable crushingroller in position above the stationary roller, and showing the draw-frame in elevated position in front of the crushing-rollers to receive the butts of the stalks and butt fiber, ready to draw them down into the interior of the drum. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing I the opposite side of the machine, the movable crushing-roller tipped down, the draw-frame drawn within the drum, and showing the drum as having made about three-quarters of a revolution from its position in Fig. 2. Fig. -i is a broken transverse sectional elevation of the machine taken on the line 1 2 of F l, and Fig. 5 is a sectional diagram illustrating the course of the fiber and stalks.

A represents the drum, j ournaled at its ends by the rings B B, secured to the main frame of the machine. The drum is provided at its ends with gear-wheels C C, with which the pinions D on the shaft D mesh for revolving the drum, and a portion of the body of the drum is removed to form an opening in which works the grasping-plate A, which is forced forward by the springs a a, for grasping the fibers between the edge a of the body of the drum and the edge a of the plate A, as shown clearly in Fig. The grasping-plate A slides upon two curved rods, 1'), attached to the body of the drum, and the springs a are placed upon the said rods and act between the sleeves, which hold the grasping-plate to the rods and heads or nuts a at the outer or free ends of the said rods.

Above the drum A is provided the shaft E, 011 which is secured the corrugated crushingroller F. The upper surface of this roller is about on a line with that of the feeding-table T and a little above that of the endless traveling apron T, which conducts away the stalks after they have been stripped of fiber.

F represents the twin crushingaroller. This is secured upon the shaft E, which is journaled in a frame, G, composed of the side arms, 9 g, and cross-piece g. The side arms, 9 g, are pivoted upon the shaft E, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, and to one of the said arms is secured the pinion 9 with which the pinion g engages. The pinion g is a part of the lever I-I, fulcrumed on the stud g, so that by operating this lever the frame G, with the shaft E and crushing-roller F, maybe swung from a position above the roller F, as shown in Fig. 2, to a position at the side of the said roller, as shown in Fig. The shaft E and roller F are both continuously revolved by a belt, F passin g over the pulleys F F*, the latter being driven by the shaft F, to which it is secured, said shaft being revolved by a belt (not shown) passing over the drive-pulley F secured thereto, and both the crushing-rollers F and F being corrugated the latter is revolved continuously from the roller F.

Connected to the frame G by the connecting-rod J and crank J (shown in Fig. is the shaft J which is j ournaled in the main frame and passes through the drum A. This shaft is provided within the drum A with the arms J J, which reach through slots 0 in the cross piece or plate K. This cross piece or plate constitutes a part of the draw-frame for drawing the ends of the fibers from the crushingrollers down into the drum A, and said plate is heldat its ends in bars (7, having grooves or ways (1 formed in them and secured to the main frame at the ends of the drum.

Attached to the plate K are the two vertically-arranged. arms K K, which are -connected near their upper ends by the rod K which serves to draw the fibers and crushed ends of the stalks within the drum. The frame G, which carries the crushing-roller F, being connected, as described, to the shaft J which latter is connected by the arms J 3 to the draw-frame, it will be seen that when the lever H is turned to swing the roller F into position above the roller F the drawframe will at the same time be lifted, so that the rod K will stand a little above the roller F, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the but-ts of the stalks and the fibers thereof issuing from between the crushirig-rollers will pass under the said rod K \Vhen the lover H is lowered for swinging theroller F over to the side of the rollerF, as shown in Fig. 3, the drawing frame will be lowered wholly within the drum A, carrying the ends of the fibers down between the edge of the main body of the drum and the adjacent edge of the sliding plate A, which, when the arms K pass below it, will be forced forward by the springs to and caused to grasp the fibers. \Vhile the draw-frame an d the roller F are being raised and lowered, as first stated, the drum A of course remains still; but as soon as the draw-frame is lowered within the drum, carrying the fiber with it, the drum is given a single complete revolution, which strips the fiber from the stalks, while the uncrushed portions of the stalks pass upon the carrying-belt T, which conducts them away from the machine.

The drum A is rotated, in this instance, from the shaft E, through the medium of the sliding clutch member f, feathered to the said shaft, the clutch-gear f, placed loosely upon said shaft E, theintermediate gear, f and the gearwheelf (see Fig. 1,) secured to the shaft D, which is connected to the large surround ing gear-wheels G C 0n the drum by the pinions D D, as above mentioned. \Vhen the clutch-member f engages with the clutch-gear f, as in Fig. 1, the drum A revolves and continues to revolve until the clutch member f is moved outward, which is effected automatically, in this instance, by the hooked bellcrank lever L, Fig. 1, engaging with the notch 7b in the large cog-wheel G. The lever L is pivoted to the inn er end of another bell-crank lever, M, which is connected at its outer end to the clutch member f, so that the engagement of the hook of the lever L (effected by the spring with the drum causes the inner end of the lever M to be carried forward and its outer end outward,disconn eeting the clutch member f from the clutch-gear f, thus stopping the revolution of the drum. This takes place just as the edge of the grasping-plate A comes in line with the points of the vertically-arranged arms K of the drawing-frame, so that when the lever II is operated and the drawing-frame elevated the points of the said vertically-arranged arms will force their way through between the plate A and the main body of the drum, the springs to yielding and permitting the plate A to slide back upon the rods 1), as will be clearly understood from Fig. 1.

Attached to the frame G is the curved arm N, for disconnecting the hooked lever L from the drum and for throwing the clutch member f into engagement with the clutch-gear f at the same time that the frame G is swung to horizontal position. The end of this arm N is formed or provided with a plate, N, havthe outer end of the hooked lever L and force f, thus automatically stopping the drum,

said outer end inwart'l, forcing the opposite end correspomlin gl y outward, thus disconnectin g the hook from the notch 71. The plate N has also an outward angle or pitch, as shown in Fig. 2, so that as it passes the end Z of the hooked lever I, it will exert abackward pressure upon the lever L, and also, through said lever, exert a backward pressure upon the inner end of the bell-crank lever M, which will draw inward the opposite end of said lever, and thus automatically slide the clutch f into engagementwith the clutch-gear f.

In operation one of the attendants will first raise the lever II to the position shown in 2. This will swing the crushing-roller F into position above the roller 11 and elevate the drawing-trame from the interior of the drum A. The drum at this time will be held by the hooked lever L and the clutch f will be moved out of contact with the clutchgear f, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. Only the crushing-rollers will be in motion. The attendant will now pass several of the stalks, T from the table T, butts first, between the crushirig-rollers, which will crush the stalks and pass the broken pieces and the fibers T under the rod K of the drawing-fran'ie. A foot or more of the stalks will be permitted to pass through between the rollers, and then the attendant will turn the lever II downward. This will swing the roller 1*" over downward to the position shown in Fig. 3 and cause it to break off the crushed ends of the stalks. At this time the drawing-frame will descend into the drum, drawing with it the fibers of the stalks, which fibers will be nipped and held by the plate A, and at this time also the lever I, will be detached from the drum A by the curved arm N and the clutch mem her 1" engaged with the cl utch-gear f, and the drum thus caused to revolve, which will draw the fibers from the uncrushed portions of the stalks and cause the bare stalks to be carried or drawn forward by the tiber to the endless table T and carried away from the machine. IVhen the drum A makes a complete revolution, the hooked end of the lever L will catch in the notch 71 ot' the drum and stop it and disengage clutch member f from clutch-gear ready for another operation. As soon as the plate A is moved back by the elevation of the tlrawing-frame anotht-n'attendant will remove the fiber from the drum. The outer portion of the fiberthat is, that portion upon the outside of the drumis combed out and straightened by the cylindrical comb O, which is revolved by the gear-wheels secured, respectively, upon shaft 1) and the shaft 0 of the comb. That portion of the fiber which is upon the inside of the drum is combed by the cylimlrical comb P, which is revolved by the gear-wheel 1 upon the outer end of the shaft of comb I, which meshes with the gearwheel of the comb O, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In most cases I shall use the tank R, to

which water is supplied, and in which the lower part of the drum A is submerged, so that the fiber will be washed in a measure, it not thoroughly, at the time of stripping, and in the tank I place the rubber rollers S S, which press against the outer surface of the drum and squeeze the fiber against the drum, which facilitates the cleaning of the fiber, and above the tank R is located another roller, S, which presses against the drum and serves to squeeze the water from the fiber and partially dry it.

Havin thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a machine for stripping jute, of crushing-rollers, a drum and nipping device for drawing olt the fibers from the stalks, a draw-frame for drawing the fibers ol' the crushed ends of the stalks within the drum, and devices for actuating the same, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a jutc-stripping machine, of a stationary crushing-roller, a drum provided with a nippin device, a draw-frame and actuating devices for the same, and a crushing-roller and swinging bearings for the same, whereby said roller may be swung from a position at the side of to a position above the stationary crushing-rollcr, substantially as described.

The drum provided wit-h the verticallymovable draw-frame and with the littin arms and shaft, and provided, also, with the nipping device, in combination, the swinging frame G, crushing rollers I? 1?, the coimecting-rod J, and. crank .I, substantially as described.

4:. The drum A, slidin plate A, and sprin a, for actuating the same, in combination with the movable draw-frame inside of the drum, and devices for actuating said frame, substantially as described.

5. The drum provided with a nipping-plate and a draw-frame, in combination with a stationary crushing-roller, a movable frame, acrushing-roller journaled therein, a lever and connections for swinging the said movable frame, and an arm, N, and drum-fastening device Il, substantially as described.

(i. The d rum A, having a notch, 71, the hooked lever L, having cam Z, the bell-cranklever M, the arm N, having plate N, and swinging frame G, in combination with the slidinghalfclutch f, lever ll, gears g g f f U G and gears D If) and shaft D, clutch-gear), shafts E j, and rollers l1 F, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the drum A,havinga nip and a draw-frame, of the water-tank R, arranged to submerge the lower part of the drum, substantially as described.

8. The drum A, provided with a nip and with a draw-frame and the devices for actuating the same, in combination with a comb for straightening and cleaning the fibers, substantially as described.

9. The fiber-stripping machine, consisting,

IIO

essentially, of a main frame, a pair of crushdraw-frame, substantially as and for the puring-rollers, a swinging frame carrying one of poses described.

the crushing-rollers, means for actuating said VVILI 1AM MENZI-Es frame, a drum provided with a nip, means for J 5 actuating said drum, a draw-frame inclosed \Vitnesses:

by the drum and held in ways attached to the H. A. VEST,

main frame, and devices for actuating the said EDGAR TATE. 

